Hay-rack.



No. 818,524. PATENTBD APR. 24, NOS- J. BAIN.

HAY RACK.

No. 818,524. A PATENTBD APR. 24, 1906. J. DAIN.

HAY RACK.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.19, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

HAY-RACK..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 24, 1906.

Application filed October 19,1905. Serial No. 283,460.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, JOSEPH DAIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ottumwa, in the county of Wapello and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hay-Racks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to hay-racks.

It has been found desirable to provide a hay-rack with a carrier that was capable of being moved longitudinally of the rack, so that such carrier might7 while located at one end of the rack, receive a large portion of the load from a loading-machine and then be moved to the opposite end of the rack, when the loading-machine will thereafter discharge the hay directly upon that portion of the rack previously occupied by the movable platform. Such a construction has been found to be of material advantage in the loading of a rack in that the necessity of pitching the load in small quantities to different parts of the rack is obviated.

My invention relates to hay-racks embodying platforms such as above briefly referred to, and it has for its objects to provide improved means for locking the platform to the rack-body, to provide a simple and effective combined track and locking-bar, and to improve generally the construction and operation of devices of this character, all as shown in the drawings and hereinafter specifically described.

That which I believe to be new will be pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an ordinary hay-rack body equipped with my improved device. Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken at line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged bottom view of the toothed wheel that is carried by the movable platform, showing also a portion of the spring-bar employed for effecting a locking of such wheel. Fig'. 4 is a vertical central section through the devices employed for moving the platform and for locking the platform in place and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the hand-wheel, partly broken away, employed for turning the toothed wheel of Fig. 3 and showing also the operating-handle for throwing the locking mechanism into and out of position.

Referring to the several figures, in which corresponding parts are indicated by like reference characters, 6 indicates the body of a hay-rack of ordinary construction. Bolted to cross-bars 7 of the hay-rack are two angleirons 8 9, the horizontal portions of which form tracks upon which rollers suitably attached to the movable platform run.

10 indicates'the movable platform referred to, which may be made in the form shown or otherwise. As shown, the platform is provided at its opposite ends with guards 11 and 12, and its floor portion is made in two parts hinged together, as shown, for convenience in shipment or storage. This platform has rollers or wheels 13 suitably attached to its under side, which rollers or wheels are adapted to and do run upon the horizontal portions of the angle-irons 8 9. On the outer face of the guard 12 and near one side of the platform is mounted a hollow post 14, that is rotatably secured in position by means of upper and lower bearings 15 16, bolted to the guard 12. Around the lower end'of the hollow post 14 is fitted a toothed wheel 17, which is secured on such hollow post by means of a set-screw 18 or otherwise securely affixed in place. This toothed wheel 17 is so located as to have its teeth engage the openings 19, with which at regular intervals the vertical portion of the angle-iron 9 is provided, as clearlyshown in Fig. l.

2O indicates a hand-wheel securely affixed over the u per end of the hollow post 14, and it will e evident that by axially turning the hollow post 14 by means of the handwheel 2O the toothed wheel 16 will successively engage the openings 19 in the angleiron 9, and thereby the platform can be moved along the rack. By this construction and arrangement of parts I provide a very strong and effective device for the toothed wheel to engage with and am enabled to effect a material saving in construction in that I do not have to provide, as has heretofore been the case, a separate device for the said toothed wheel to engage, but am enabled to use a single angle-iron both as a track for the roller and as the device for the toothed wheel to engage.

It is important that such a device as this be equipped with a strong, simple, and inexpensive locking mechanism to hold the platform in position on the rack, and such mechanism I provide by the means now to be described.

21 indicates a rod in the hollow post 14, the

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upper end of which is ecce'ntrically pivoted by a bolt 22 between the forked end of a lever 23. i

24 indicates a bar of spring metal, which, as best shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, has one end attached to the under face of the platform 10, its other end projecting downward and opposite the toothed wheel 17, and such projecting end is secured by a bolt 25 or in any other suitable manner to the projecting lower end of the rod 21. This spring-bar is provided in the construction shown with a bend that insures the end that comes opposite the wheel normally standing away from such wheel, so as to clear the projections that are shown on the under face of the said toothed wheel 17. These projections just referred to are indicated by 26 and may be of any required number provided the distance between any two adjacent projections is sufficient to allow the bar 24 to be drawn up between them.

After having moved the platform as desired upon the rack such platform is locked in place by turning the lever 23 into such position that through the eccentricity of its connection with the rod 21 such rod 21 will be drawn up to the limit of its movement, and this of course will pull up the spring-bar 24, that is attached to such rod, and by the carrying of such bar between two of the projections 26 further rotation of the wheel 17 will of course be positively prevented, and thereby the platform as a whole will be effectually locked against further movement on the rack.

When it is desired to unlock the platform, so as to enable it to be moved on the rack, the eccentric lever 23 is turned back into proper position to allow the rod 21 to descend to its lowest position7 the spring-bar 24 acting to hold such rod 21 down and prevent any accidental displacement of the parts, as will be readily understood.

That which I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a hay-rack, of a movable platform thereon, a toothed wheel carried by said platform, means for turning said wheel, a device carried by the body of the said rack with which the teeth of said wheel engage, a Y rojection on one face of said wheel, a bar a apted to be moved toward said wheel to engage such projection, and means for moving such bar, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a hay-rack, of a movable platform thereon, a toothed wheel carried by said platform, means for turning said wheel, a device carried by the body of the said rack with which the teeth of said wheel engage, a series of projections on one face of said wheel, a spring-bar adapted to be forced toward said wheel to engage such proj ections, and means for moving said bar and holding the same toward the face of said wheel, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a hay-rack, of a movable platform thereon, a toothed wheel carried by said platform, means for turning said Wheel, a device carried by the body of the said rack with which the teeth of said wheel engage, a series of projections on one face of said wheel, a spring-bar iixedly attached at one end and having its other end projecting opposite the said wheel, and a device attached to said projecting end of the bar and adapted to be moved to force said spring-bar between two of said projections, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the body of a hay-rack, of a movable platform thereon, a hollow, upright, axially movable post, a toothed wheel secured to the lower end of said post, a device carried by the hay-rack body with which the teeth of said wheel engage, a longitudinally-movable rod in said hollow post, and a locking device secured to the said rod and adapted by the movement of said rod to be brought into contact with the said wheel, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the body of a hay-rack, of a movable platform thereon, a hollow, upright, axially-movable post, a toothed wheel secured to the lower end of said post, a device carried by the hayracl body with which the teeth of said wheel engage, a longitudinally-movable rod in said hollow post, a spring-bar fiXedly secured at one end and having its other end connected with said rod, and means connected with the upper end of said rod for normally holding said spring-bar away from said toothed wheel, substantially as described.

6. The combination with the body of a hay-rack, of a movable platform thereon, a hollow, upright, axially-movable post, a toothed wheel secured thereto around the lower end of the post and provided on its lower face with a plurality of projections, a device carried by the rack-body with which the teeth of such wheel engage, a longitudinally-movable rod having its lower end projecting out of the lower end of said post, a bar attached to the lower end of the post and adapted to be drawn up to lie between two of the projections on the lower face of the wheel, and an operating device secured to the upper end of said rod, substantially as described.

7. The combination with the body of a hay-rack, of a movable platform thereon, a hollow, upright, axially movable post, a toothed wheel secured thereto around the lower end of the post and provided on its lower face with a plurality of projections, a device carried by the rack-body with which the teeth of such wheel engage, a longitudinally-movable rod having its lower end projecting out of the lower end of said post, a

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bar oi' spring material attached at one end to a iixed support and at its other end to the loWer end of said rod, and an operating device at the upper end of said rod, substantially as described. t

8. The combination with the body of a hay-rack, of guide-rails thereon each formed of an angle-iron, one portion of one of Which is provided With a series of openings, a platform movable on said guide-rails, a toothed Wheel adapted to engage the rail provided with said openings, and means for turning said Wheel, substantially as described.

9. The Combination with the body of a hay-rack, of guide-rails thereon each formed of an angle-iron, a platform having Wheels or rollers adapted to run on the horizontal portions oi said angle-irons, a toothed Wheel adapted to engage a series of openings in the Vertical portion of one of said angle-irons, and means for turning said toothed Wheel, substantially as described,

JOSEPH DAIN. Witnesses:

C. A. LAssER, W. G. DUFFIELD. 

